Residential Care Homes for young people with emotional & behavioural needs (phase 1)

Nottinghamshire County Council is seeking a single Provider for the supply of children's residential care, enabling increased local placement capacity and greater choice for looked after children and young people. This is described in further detail in the service specification, and in particular the draft contract contained in PART 2 of the tender documentation. The contract will operate for period of 10 years from 01st October 2025 to 30th September 2035 with break clauses available at year 5 and 7.

Nottinghamshire Council has had a block residential care contract in place since April 2015 which is due to expire on 30th September 2025. The current contract supports 31 children across 14 homes (January 2025). There is a further expansion programme consisting of 2 two bed, and 2 solo homes which are currently undergoing renovation.

The homes currently available to the Council are a mix of properties both in size and ownership, with some owned by the Council and leased back to the Provider from which to deliver residential care. There are 195 children placed in residential care (December 2024) of which 31 are currently placed in the block residential care contract. The remainder of placements are sourced from other frameworks, such as the D2N2 Children in Care Framework or spot contracting arrangements.

The Council also operate a further 4 residential homes, 2 of which are for children with disabilities. At contract commencement a minimum of 70% of the homes offered must be within Nottinghamshire, with the aspiration for this service to have 100% of the homes located within the County by the end of the contract. When considering the development of new homes, these should preferably be situated in the Mansfield/Ashfield areas to reflect the areas of greatest need seen currently.

The homes will be placed in areas that data for our children looked after identifies the greatest need.